


Horizon

by Selah



Series: The Long Chain Cycle [5]
Category: Alice Nine, DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Jpop, Jrock, Kpop - Fandom, LM.C, w-inds.
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 22:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6059965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't that Changmin had lead a sheltered life, far from it. But maybe it was time he broadened his horizons a bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Previously released on LJ with a different pseud for the 30emotions prompt "amusement," this has gone through some significant revisions since then, including a changed summary. Ogata is not at all uncommon so there's no real reason to think Ryuichi and Hiroto are anything more than distantly related, but it was too fun an opportunity to resist.

Changmin wasn't home long before the hand-written letters turned into e-mails and phone calls. Faster, easier, and there was something about being able to hear the voice on the other end, to having that real-time connection, that was just better. The written word couldn't convey Keita's laughter or Ryuichi's sarcasm or even Ryohei's dry wit the same way. The only real disadvantage was the way everyone else would look at him any time he got mail, the way his bandmates would practically cling to every word whenever he was on the phone with anyone. So it was something of a relief to hear they were about to head back to Japan, this time for a six month stay. For one thing, it meant he could actually get his bandmates off his back by finally actually, formally introducing them to the w-inds members, thereby getting them to shut up about it. More importantly, though, it meant getting to see his friends again, something he hadn't been able to do in too many months to his reckoning.

So of course, because Fate was nothing if not cruel in its sense of humor, the whole first month Tohoshinki was scheduled to be in Tokyo, w-inds was scheduled to be touring elsewhere in Asia, except for the first two days. Knowing how precious those last few days before a tour could be, no one had tried asking him to arrange a meeting. He didn't bother telling them he was planning to have dinner with Ryohei the first night in Tokyo; that date he was keeping selfishly to himself.

~*~*~

_“Hey, Min-kun, I know I promised to take you out to dinner your first night in Tokyo, but -.”_

“So help me, Ryo-kun, if you're cancelling on me this close....” Changmin muttered into the phone, shifting his hold on the handset to pick up a folder of study materials.

 _“Not exactly?”_ the other man said with a chuckle. _“Kei-chan's solo album charted better than anyone was expecting, so the label's doing a private party thing that night. I can get you in, I'll mail the invite to your Tokyo address.”_

“Um...”

_“Black tie, bring a date or turn up stag, up to you.. Should I arrange to have a car sent or are you going to handle that?”_

“No, no, I'll worry about transportation,” he said quickly, swallowing down his disappointment. A formal corporate party wasn't his idea of a great way to spend his first night in Tokyo. At best, it would be stiff and uncomfortable. At worst, everyone but him would get completely smashed and it would end up being even more uncomfortable.

_“All right. Thanks, Min-kun, I promise, we'll do dinner properly after this tour jaunt.”_

Changmin hummed a note of agreement, closing the conversation with a silent sigh. He'd go alone; turning up with one of his bandmates as his guest might give people the wrong idea, especially if this ended up being one of those everyone drinking to sloppy drunkenness sorts of parties. Plus having to choose just one of them would have been a nightmare anyway. Of course that meant he was going to have to be careful, to be sure to check the mail first thing before anyone else could see the invite and wonder what it was. He would have to be a little more cautious about sneaking out that night, too, but he was sure he could figure out something.

~*~*~

The party started out feeling a bit stiff and formal, as he had feared, but it didn't stay that way for long. It amused Changmin to see the effect alcohol could have on people. And generally made him all the more certain that he really didn't want anything to do with the substance himself ever again if he could avoid it. The way people would completely lose control of themselves ... it was not something he ever wanted to experience for himself, no matter how amusing it was to see in others.

“Min-kun!” Keita called out, walking up to him and enfolding him in a warm hug. “Great, you made it. I was a little worried there, with this being your first night in town and all.”

“Eh, I've gotten pretty good at sneaking around, I guess,” he said returning his friend's hug with one of his own and a wry grin. “Congrats on the album sales, by the way, Keita-kun.”

“Are you here on your own then?” Ryuichi asked, appearing from who knew where to pop up at Changmin's side not unlike a mushroom. “Surprised you didn't bring a guest.”

“Ah, well, I wasn't entirely sure what sort of party this was going to be, so....”

“All the more reason to let me introduce you around~” the shorter singer declared with a wide grin. Someone had obviously been drinking already, but Changmin didn't see the point in commenting on it. Not like a tipsy Ryuichi was going to hurt anything, though he wasn't feeling entirely comfortable the way he was being introduced to various Pony Canyon people. Tohoshinki wasn't looking to change Japanese labels, but there was nothing wrong with having more contacts in the business. Still, at the rate things were going, he was going to have to say something to their manager just so he wasn't completely blindsided if someone took these introductions the wrong way.

“Kei-chan!”

“Hiroppon!”

Changmin stepped back half a pace, amused at the blond blur that practically tackled Keita. Someone else who had been drinking a bit much already? Someone his friends apparently knew fairly well, since Ryuichi was laughing just as much as Keita was. 

“Don't forget to let him breathe, Pon,” another man said, joining their group with a wry grin that scattered light from the short spike just below the right corner of his lip.

“Oh yeah,” the blond said with a sheepish laugh, getting up and then helping Keita to his feet as well. “Great job with the record, Kei-chan. Ne, who's your friend?”

“Why this is Min-kun, of course,” Keita said, latching onto Changmin's arm in a way the other singer hadn't done since that first night in Kyoto. “Shim Changmin of Tohoshinki to be more precise. Min-kun, I'd like you to meet friends of ours. Well, Shinji's a friend, Hiroto is Ryu-chan's cousin twice removed or something.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, it's Tora?” the one with the piercing mock grumbled, though he wasn't quite able to keep the light of amusement from his eyes. And then he was offering a hand to Changmin. “Amano Shinji, stage name of Tora. Nice to meet you, Changmin-kun.”

“Likewise, Tora-san,” Changmin replied, freeing his arm from Keita just enough to be able to shake the other man's hand. He had to bite back a grin as Tora was elbowed aside by his shorter companion.

“Ogata Hiroto, _lead_ guitarist of alicenine., pleasure to meet you,” the blond said as he offered his hand, shooting a positively wicked look at Tora.

“Only when I let you be, Squirrelbutt,” Tora rumbled, playfully punching Hiroto's shoulder, obviously a familiar response to a long-standing fake argument between the two men who were, he assumed, both members of the band Hiroto had just mentioned.

“Pleasure to meet you, Hiroto-san,” Changmin said, shaking the offered hand even as he tried to smother a chuckle. Finally, more people his own age, or close to it at any rate.

“Torarara! Hiropipyon~!”

Keita tugged Changmin backwards just in time to keep him from being steamrolled by the lanky blond assaulting the two guitarists he had only just met. For the second time in ten minutes, there was a tackling and a crashing of bodies to the carpet. Changmin glanced around the party, but for better or worse, no one seemed to be giving them much attention. Either that or this was just considered normal, acceptable behavior, he wasn't sure which.

“Sorry about that,” and Changmin turned towards the new voice. Another musician, he was guessing, based on the pink streaks in black hair. “Maya's prone to being a little excitable after a drink or two and we haven't seen his old labelmates too much lately. I'm Aiji, by the way.”

“Changmin, and I'm starting to feel a little silly for being worried about not having anyone to talk to here,” he confessed, squashing the urge to blush. “But when Ryo-kun said it was a small label party....”

“LM.C is signed with Pony Canyon as well,” Aiji said with a gesture to indicate himself and the blond who had gotten up off the floor with enviable speed and was now attached to Tora not unlike a koala. “What's your excuse?”

“Ryo-kun sent me an invite,” he said, shrugging. “Shouldn't he be congratulating Keita? Just out of politeness?”

“Maya's never been one to worry overmuch about being polite,” Aiji replied, grinning. “If you hadn't noticed from the way he almost mowed you over earlier.”

“If Aiji-kun doesn't stop trying to slander Maya's good name, Maya is going to start calling him bad things in public,” the blond declared, turning his head just enough to stick his tongue out at them. “Besides, I took Kei-chan out for lunch yesterday to celebrate, thank you, which is more than Aiji-kun's done.”

“Ignore him,” Aiji suggested with a laugh, turning the whole of his attention on Changmin. “Korean, right? Seems like a long way to come just for this.”

“Ah, well, Tohoshinki just came back to Tokyo earlier today, actually, so it wasn't that far.”

“Tohoshinki...,” Aiji murmured, eyes losing focus. “I know that name. Why do I know that name?”

“Can't possibly be because they're the most popular Korean import pop group here in Japan right now,” Keita said, tucking an arm around him and resting his chin on Changmin's shoulder. He couldn't help wondering about the way the older singer was suddenly all about draping all over him. After the way things had gone on his last trip, he had assumed that Keita wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing anymore. Had he been wrong or was this just the way Keita showed affection towards his friends?

“Oh hush, you. Show some respect for your elders,” Aiji half grumbled, aiming a play swat at Keita's head.

“Hey, this is my party, I'll be a brat if I want to!” Keita challenged, a mischievous grin lighting his voice.

“Elders?” Changmin had accepted that he was the youngest of their growing conversational circle, such as it was, but he hadn't thought it was by all that much. He knew Ryohei was four years older than him, and while Tora felt like he was mostly likely older than that, he had just assumed Hiroto and Maya were about the same age as Keita and Ryuichi. Surely Aiji wasn't far beyond that, so maybe it was because Maya's antics seemed able to make most anyone else look old in comparison.

“Mm,” Keita purred against his ear. “Aiji-san's an old fart, been in the rock scene since the nineties. He's over thirty, you know. Positively ancient. No idea what Maya-kun sees in him.”

“I'd hit you for real, but I don't want to hurt Changmin-kun,” Aiji grumbled, though Changmin thought he saw a smile lurking about the man's lips. “Besides, shouldn't you be showing gratitude to your guests and thanking them for coming about now?”

“You just want Min-kun to yourself so you can do unspeakable things to him,” Keita said as he let go of him. Even though he was sure his friend was just teasing, well... it wasn't all that reassuring.

“The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Although, if Min-kun _wants_ me to do unspeakable things to him....”

He could feel himself blushing hard at the way Aiji was very obvious about checking him out, which was a ridiculous reaction, and he knew it, and yet... Not like he had anything to be ashamed of in terms of his looks.

“Just be careful with him, Aiji-san - Min-kun's still a minor~” Keita called out before he trotted off to deal with more guests. If Changmin hadn't been bright red already, he certainly was then. Why did Keita have to say it like that? Sure, technically it was true, but that didn't mean Keita had to make it sound so dirty. It wasn't like Changmin was some blushing virgin, no matter how much he was emulating one at that moment, or even all that much younger than him. Just a little while longer and he would be twenty, a fully legal adult in both countries.

“You don't look that young to me,” Aiji said as he gave him another once over.

“I'm not - I turn twenty in a couple more months. Keita's just being himself.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” Aiji purred and that wicked grin was back, though Changmin wasn't at all confident that the suggestions he thought he was seeing in it were really being made.

“Aijiiiiiiiiiiii...! You're talking to a pretty boy and not introducing me? You're so meeeeeean to me!” Maya's tone might have been a whine, but there was laughter dancing in those eyes. And in Hiroto's as well, once more caught up in Maya's arms.

“You are such a brat, I don't know why I put up with you,” Aiji grumbled with obviously faked annoyance. “Min-kun, might I introduce my delinquent partner and the voice of Lovely Mocochang, Maya. Mayatan, this is Changmin of Tohoshinki.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Maya-san.”

“You look like a hugger. Are you a hugger, Changmin-kun? I'll bet you are,” Maya rambled, letting go of Hiroto. And before Changmin could get a word in edgewise, he was being glomped by the singer. Not that he really minded, it was just unexpected. And Maya was quite the enthusiastic hugger, not entirely unlike Yoochun, actually.

“Welcome to Japan, Changmin-kun! If you need someone to show you around and Kei-chan's too busy, don't be afraid to give me a call!”

“I appreciate the thought, Maya-san, but I've been here quite a bit in the last couple of years, I pretty much know my way around the city already.”

“Hnh. Makes sense. Your Japanese is pretty good, too, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, ne? Still, I bet I know some places you don't,” the singer said, one arm draped around Changmin's shoulders as he seemingly tried to tug him away from Aiji. “And people. Some friends are good, more is better, and who couldn't use more friends, right?”

Maya probably had a point there, more friends wouldn't hurt anything. Both for himself and for his bandmates as well. Well, perhaps he would discuss that idea with Maya and Aiji first, see what they thought about the idea of a group outing. His bandmates could be a little overwhelming at times, he didn't want to force them on the unaware.

“Well, they're going out the day after tomorrow for a whole month, so ... maybe we can arrange something?”

“Oh I thought you'd never ask,” Maya purred, grinning in pure mischief. He could already tell he was going to like Maya and that the blond's plans were going to be made of win and wicked fun. Well, a little light-hearted pranking never hurt anyone ... not too seriously anyway. And he owed his hyung some devilment.


End file.
